Crest of the Strongest Knight

Chapter 123 - Viviane's Courage

Despite wanting to continue supporting her knight with covering fire, Viviane knew that she could no longer afford to do so unchecked. Already, the enemy forces were beginning to target her, and with the impressive amount of arrows streaking toward her position, Viviane could only assume that she was under fire by a knight. Pivoting neatly in her saddle, the noblewoman's bow spat five arrows in rapid succession, shearing through the shots that had been directed toward her. While she was confident that she could keep deflecting her opponent's arrows with her own, there was no point in expending her ki to deal with a problem she could solve by simply dismounting.

Hopping off from her horse gave Viviane a far more limited and grisly view of the battlefield. Now that her field of vision no longer allowed her to stare far off into the distant enemy formations, she was forced to peer into the thick of the fight where corpses lay strewn across the muddy grass in awkward positions while those who still lived continued vying for purchase against their foes. From the archers' unit and even from atop her steed, Viviane could freely turn a blind eye to the true nature of war, but now that it had been thrust before her, she fully understood why Sakura had been hesitant to let her follow Medrauta into the fray.

But even so, she would not turn away.

Viviane's hands clenched into fists, her eyes flickering between the glorious scene of Medrauta continuing to lead the charge and the ever-growing pile of corpses that littered the battlefield. The longer she looked, the more she realized why the tales of heroic knights were always so flowery and laced with gallantry. Had they been more accurate, the knights themselves might've lost faith in the values that they had prized long ago.

It wasn't as if the knights themselves didn't know. Even now, Medrauta was painfully aware of each soldier that her warhorse trampled. She could recall the faces of every man or woman that she slew, wetting her blade with their blood. This was her first true campaign, but she had bore the burden of taking lives before, and with each life that she took, that burden only grew heavier.

But just as Viviane chose to stare into the distance, Medrauta had her own way of averting her eyes from the violence that tainted her hands. No matter what, she refused to look down at the countless bodies that she left in her wake, for a knight was a shining paragon of justice for those that rallied behind them. A gallant figurehead whose sword sang glory and whose shouts resounded courage. There was no time for anguish or remorse for Medrauta, nor would she have permitted herself such emotions in the heat of battle.

Instead, the silver-haired knight kept her gaze fixed ever forward, chasing a future that only she could grasp. Even as a lance impaled her horse, her eyes never wavered. There was no mourning for the partner who had served her faithfully in those intense but brief moments. Instead, Medrauta merely raised her sword high in the air and avenged her steed. A life for a life, whether it was that of a human or an animal, it did not matter. Not on the battlefield.

"Medrauta!" Marilyn's clarion voice cut through the clamor of combat as she pushed herself next to the silver-haired knight. The senior knight was bleeding from several different places and part of her armor had been shorn off by the sheer amount of attacks that it had endured. Her breathing was uneven, and her chest heaved in exhaustion, but the fire in her eyes never dimmed for a second. "What the hell are you doing here!? And with a Crest, no less!"

Medrauta's sword moved with blinding speed, Viviane's metamorphosed Crest providing such a powerful increase to her knight's physical abilities that Medrauta could casually eviscerate three knights who had managed to reach her position without so much as a pause. Of course, the outcome would've been different had those knights been bearing Crests themselves, but Medrauta was sure the outcome would've been the same considering the incredible boost that Viviane's Crest now provided.

"The battle was going to shit!" Medrauta shouted back as she erupted into a flurry of movement, clearing the way for the soldiers who surged forward from behind her. Although Marilyn's presence should've tipped her off, it was only now that Medrauta realized she and the men who followed her advance had actually managed to scatter the enemy's left flank and circle around to join the main force at the front lines. "Viviane and I decided to do something and here we are!"

"What about your lady!? You can't just leave her undefended!" Marilyn roared as she engaged several soldiers brave enough to try and take on the wounded knight. Exhausted and bleeding as she was, common soldiers were still no match for the senior knight who quickly dispatched them with several swipes of her massive greatsword.

"She's fine! She's near the rear of our advancing forces! We've driven a wedge through their flank and they've broken! Now all that's left is to crush the center!"

Marilyn shook her head, grunting as a spearman managed to slip past her defenses and stab at her ribs. Although her chainmail absorbed most of the blow, it was still bound to bruise. With a quick thrust of her blade, Marilyn removed the man's right to live. "Hah! Then let's show these assholes what it's all about!"

Medrauta nodded in agreement, returning Marilyn's fierce smile with a grin of her own. The senior knight raised her sword high in the air and commanded her men to advance. Against all odds, they had managed to crush one of the enemy's flanks, and though Bastiche's forces were still greater in number, the soldiers with Medrauta had managed to wrap around the defenders' central formation. Though victory was still a long way from grasp, it was now within sight.

At least, it had been.

The gates of Revelo Castle slowly opened in the distance, and Viviane watched in horror as she watched more soldiers pour out. The noblewoman had mounted her steed once the enemy's left flank had broken thanks to Medrauta's efforts and it was only thanks to her raised vantage point that she could see the stream of enemy reinforcements flooding onto the battlefield. It would only be a matter of minutes before they joined the bulk of the fighting, and it was obvious that neither Medrauta nor Marilyn had noticed this.

Although the blaring of warning trumpets fought desperately against the sounds of combat, the knights were too battle-drunk to hear them, for Marilyn shouted her orders even as the instruments sounded. As an archer, Viviane had no place on the front lines where her knight now stood, but she was currently the only person who could warn the knights before Bastiche's reinforcements crashed into them like a wave and drowned them in the tide. Gathering her courage, Viviane spurred her horse forward, the sudden acceleration surprising the soldiers clustered around her protectively.

Wait for me, Medrauta! This time, I'm the one who'll protect you!